Page 49 of A Duchess Bound
“It is far more important that you look beautiful,” Dorothy said. “What need do spinsters have to look beautiful? No one is going to marry me.”
She thought of His Grace’s warm hazel eyes and his coy smirks, and heat rushed to her face. Dorothy’s thoughts were getting away from her. She was having an affair with a known rake. He did not really feel any particular fondness for her—nor she for him—but some small, girlish part of Dorothy still wanted the duke to appreciate her in a way that a man might a woman for whom he bore some genuine attachment.
“Still,” Bridget said, “I think it always benefits a lady to look her best. Ah! There is Elias.”
They bid the modiste farewell and joined their brother in the coach. “How was the modiste?” he asked, as they settled onto the cushion across from him.
The coach jolted into motion.
“Fine,” Dorothy said. “Bridget’s gown should be ready in time for her to wear it to Catherine’s ball.”
“Good. From what I have heard, Sarsen’s guest list is truly impressive,” Elias said.
“Just in time for Bridget to impress her favorite suitor,” Dorothy said slyly.
Bridget’s face reddened. “I have no notion of what you mean.”
“You say that, but you did seem peculiarly distracted today,” Dorothy noted. “I find myself wondering at the cause of that, and I can think of nothing that would have you so distracted except for a suitor. Perhaps, you exchanged some pretty words with him.”
Bridget shook her head. “You assume too much.”
Elias laughed. “Dorothy, if Bridget had some secret, favored suitor, wouldn’t you have seen her interacting with him? Where were you when this exchange occurred?”
Dorothy’s blood ran cold. Elias was speaking in jest, but Dorothy was nonetheless aware of the danger. If she was going to continue this adventure with the Duke of Greenway, she would need to be more careful.
“Yes, wherewereyou?” Bridget asked, sounding more serious than Elias had been.
Her sister would never guess the truth. No one would ever think that Dorothy was engaged in a sordid affair. Still, she knew her siblings well. If they believed that she had any secret at all, they would try to find the truth, and eventually, they would stumble upon the Duke of Greenway.
“It is difficult to say,” Dorothy said. “I seldom left your side last night, so it must have been when I was distracted—likely by one of your aspiring suitors.”
“Given how many suitors our sister has found, I am surprised that you both have time to breathe,” Elias said.
“Soon, it will be your turn,” Dorothy said.
Bridget’s face brightened, and she looked at Dorothy. In that moment, they were two sisters united against their brother. “Yes,” Bridget said. “And Dorothy and I will spend hours, lateinto the night, compiling lists of all the suitable women for you to marry. We would not want you to fall prey to some lady rake.”
“Lady-rakes do not exist,” Elias said. “And if they did, I am certain that I would not fall for their charms.”
“Spoken like a man who does not know what he is doing,” Dorothy said.
“Indeed,” Bridget agreed. “He will be like poor Sir Perceval.”
“Perceval?” Elias asked.
“Yes,” Bridget said. “I decided to revisit Sir Thomas Malory. There is one passage, during the Grail quest, where Sir Perceval is tempted by a beautiful woman, but she is revealed to be a devil in disguise. I imagine that lady rakes are similar creatures.”
“Agreed,” Dorothy said. “They appear to be any other woman until it is too late for you to escape their feminine wiles.”
Was that what she was? The idea sounded absurd to her, but Dorothy had also been so very quick to agree to His Grace’s proposed arrangement. She had made her choice in a week and not felt an ounce of regret in all the salacious acts they had committed afterwards.
“Ridiculous,” Elias said, grinning. “If such a thing existed, I would have encountered one already.”
“Perhaps, you did and did not know,” Bridget said.
Their brother laughed. The coach came to a steady halt in front of the townhouse.
“Then, I am glad that I have the two of you to keep me safe,” Elias said. “It would be dreadful if I were to court a demon unaware.”
